


The Spark

by Nexilyn



Series: Until We Go Down [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/F, M/M, Mention of blood, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-11
Updated: 2016-05-15
Packaged: 2018-06-01 16:21:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6527260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nexilyn/pseuds/Nexilyn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Valentine Morgenstern, leader of the circle, is taking the first steps into bringing Hell to earth. His experiments and searches are, however, hindered by a group of somehow familiar shadowhunters. They have slowly been catching up to his plans and have made it their duty to stop him.</p>
<p>While the experiments are merely the spark to his revolution, he wants a fire, and for that he needs the cup.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ErikaAmerika](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErikaAmerika/gifts).



> This story was previously uploaded under a similar title "Sparks", but I got increasingly more unhappy with the way it had turned out. So I decided to start anew. It's still my take on what's going to happen and what the monsters are like, in a way (as someone who didn't read the books before planning the story, but only used some searches and the brains of a friend). The world and the relationships are different from canon, as is some of the history in this world. But that you will see as you read! 
> 
> Dedicated to tumblr user 'parabrotaii', for all the encouragement and amazing conversations. Thank you <3.

_"Clarissa."_

She remembered the rate of her heartbeat minutes before a math exam. She would be able to feel it beat in her throat, pumping blood through her veins at a rapid pace. Breathing would sometimes become more difficult but it was nothing bad, because it would be gone the moment she would start with her calculations.

_"Clary."_

She remembered the rate of her heartbeat when her best friend's life was on the line. She remembered the hyperventilation when her thoughts had gotten stuck on the worst case scenario and she recalled the edge of thick tears in her eyes, constantly forming, falling and disappearing. It wasn't a situation that her other friends couldn't make easier with comfort and tea.

But never was it as bad as this time.

She could feel her heart beat in her temples, the extreme pace of it pumping the venom through her veins all the quicker. She remembered stories of ravener venom, and how it was supposed to feel like you were being burned alive, how fingertips were supposed to be too painful to hold onto anything and how you weren't supposed to be able to stand on your own feet. Oddly enough, she felt nothing. She felt nothing but her heartbeat and the only thing that she could do, the only thing that she _had to do_ , was to _keep running_.

She didn't notice the blood from the wound on the back of her head trickling down her neck, soaking her once perfectly clean shirt in a darkened red. She felt the threat of dinner coming back up every time her eyes looked into a light, sudden lightheaded moments making her stumble into streetlights, trashcans and many people. Her invisibility rune may have been nothing more than a useless tattoo at that point. There was, however, no time to worry about that, because she knew that if she stopped, it would catch up to her. She kept her legs moving, knowing that if she stopped they wouldn't start again. She turned many corners, hoping that the demon would lose track of her, but she was forced to a stop when she stumbled over her feet in an attempt to avoid running over a stray cat. Any balance she had left was gone and she fell face-first onto the ground, at the end of an alleyway, right in front of a sidewalk. Her right arm had gotten stuck below the rest of her body and red hair stuck to her lips. The coldness of the floor was a welcome feeling against her hot and reddened cheek, her heavy breathing visible in the winter air, heart seemingly beating in her ears. Feet of the passersby walked through her vision. Nobody noticed her there, on the ground, as her rune kept her from being seen by the mundanes. At the very least it saved her the embarrassment.

"Clary."

There was no escaping a voice that seemingly sounded inside your head, but she had wanted to try. She still wanted to try. Clarissa Fairchild had never been one to give up easy, but no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't get her body to move again. It felt like the ravener venom had been eating away at her muscles, her arms too weak to move as the adrenaline had stopped being of use. There was nothing for her to do aside from numbly staring at the feet that approached her slowly. She could feel the tears well up in her eyes and her jaws clenched together, trying to keep herself from hyperventilating as death walked closer. Her mind could come up with many ways to die if she wanted it to, but Clary never imagined that her death would be in the shape of her family.

She watched how the demon she had been running from knelt before her, a hand reaching towards her face, index finger sticking out and placed on the side of her chin. The demon turned her head and Clary could feel the strain in her neck that the position caused. It forced her to look it in the eyes, its finger pushing harder and harder into her chin the more she refused to look at it. Obstinacy clearly wasn't the reaction that the demon was going for, and thus it pushed Clary onto her back with a growl. It sat on top of her, a knee on either side, and hovered its face above hers, fingers once more clenched around her chin and this time Clary looked. She stared with widened eyes, tears falling and air seemingly lacking the oxygen that she needed. The sight of his ever so familiar face was something she had to miss for over two years. She had to miss the brown eyes, the crooked glasses and the waves in his brown hair. She had to miss it because he was dead and this wasn't him, but she still heard the name slip past her lips. _"Simon."_

And oh, how quickly the look of irritation disappeared from the demon's face, eyes suddenly shining with glee at the young girl's pained expression and her tight, squeaking voice. The wide grin that formed on its lips was nothing short of unsettling, with several rows of pointy, sharp teeth showing off, seemingly ready to tear into her flesh. The demon let go of her chin, its expression turning somewhat neutral - but with amusement still in its eyes and only the tiniest trace of the grin left playing at its lips. Clary could feel goosebumps pop up when the demon ran his fingers across her cheek, and while she tried to pull away from its touch she didn't have much reach with her neck. "I love you, Clary."

She could feel the pain in her heart and the tightness in her chest when it uttered the four last words she'd heard Simon speak. Clary's jaws were clenched together even tighter than they were before, arms finally able to move again and pulling away from underneath the demon. She weakly tried to push and pull it off of her, but her muscles still felt too weak to accomplish anything with her attempts. So she dropped them to her sides again.

The words made her remember the fact that she never got a chance to answer him, to tell him that yes, she loved him too and that she always would. The words made her want to scream because shape-shifting demons could never say something that they hadn't heard before. She wanted to punch and kick and scream at it because shape-shifting demons could never mimic a voice saying a specific set of words unless they had heard it before. But looking at the joy on the demon's face, she didn't want to give it the pleasure anymore.

The shape-shifter ran a sharp nail from Clary's temple to her cheek, spilling a light trail of blood. It looked like it was about to speak again, but it was interrupted by an arrow tearing through its chest. The arrow - still sticking out of the demon's chest - had bright red fletching that Clary recognized, and the clear hit turned the creature to glowing ashes, from where the arrow had hit its target to the soles of the demon's shoes. The disappearing weight made it easier for Clary to breathe and when the demon was gone completely the arrow dropped onto her chest. She relaxed the muscles of her jaws and let out a quiet sob of pure relief. Hasty footsteps could be heard coming closer, one of them distinctly sounding like high heels. Clary pushed herself into a sitting position with shaking arms and every bit of effort she had. Her body felt somewhat numb and it felt weak, but as the adrenaline started to fade away she could feel the burning of the ravener venom start to take its place.

"Clare!" The young redhead looked up at the use of the distinct nickname and watched how the rightful creator of it sunk to her knees next to her. "By the Angels, are you okay?"

Clary tensed up at the gentle hand supporting her back, uncertain whether or not this was the real Isabelle Lightwood. She wasn't the best at recognizing demons on sight and shape-shifters were among the most difficult to identify. It usually helped when her friends were around, because they had more experience than she did. Isabelle looked worried at the sudden tension of Clary's muscles, but quickly after realization flashed in her eyes.

She put her curling black hair behind her ear, pinching her earlobe as she dropped her hand back down. Isabelle's brother Alec - the one that shot the arrow - knelt down on the other side of Clary, putting his bow onto the ground, and made the same movement to pinch his ear. That little signal had been something that they had quietly agreed upon to identify each other with in the case of any shape-shifters. There were a total of six people that knew about it: Clary herself, Alec and Isabelle Lightwood, Jace Wayland, Simon Lewis and Luke Garroway. It was a little trick that Luke had shown them when they were still children, and so far no demon had picked up on it. It was a quick, random motion that they had learned to do inconspicuously. For the longest time both Simon and Clary believed that it was meant for the demons that small children believed in - the ones in the closet or below the bed. She remembered how her mother had been angry with Luke for even bringing the creatures up. It wasn't until years later that it became clear why Luke had really taught them, and why her mother had gotten angry. It wasn't until a year ago - when she was eighteen - that Clary had found out that the signal was meant for real demons - and that they existed, and that her mother had been hiding it from her and had asked the Lightwoods to do the same. They had done a miraculously good job, considering that she had grown up with Isabelle, Alec, Jace and Luke - because they had been trained. They knew, all those years, but were never allowed to speak about it because Clary's mother made them promise that they wouldn't until she was an adult. It was a promise kept even after her death - a promise kept especially after her death, because Jocelyn Fairchild never wanted anything more than a normal childhood for her daughter.

No matter how much Clary loved her mother, she wished she had known about the world and its dangers, and that she would have learned to defend herself from it. It had always been Jace, Isabelle and Alec protecting her and Simon from the world, one distracting them as best they could while two of them went to take care of the danger. It had been like that ever since they were teenagers and went out on their own more, Luke unable to go along everywhere they went as he did when they were children - when it had always been Luke protecting the five of them. It made sense why he had shown them the little trick at such a young age. It had mostly been for the sakes of Alec, Isabelle and Jace, because they knew about the shadow world, and because they were fighting in it. Clary remembered how they would often pinch their earlobes when they had split up with silly excuses and grouped back together. She always thought they were habits, but it was them showing each other they were real. Luke had just wanted Simon and Clary to know, too. Just in case.

It was a reassuring signal, especially now. It helped her to relax because yes, these were the Lightwoods that she grew up with. They weren't shape-shifting demons. They were Isabelle and Alec Lightwood, both looking incredibly alarmed when Clary's relaxed expression suddenly changed to one of pure agony, her body doubling over and gut-wrenching screams escaping her lips. The adrenaline that prevented her from feeling the pain before had now disappeared completely, and the burning sensation of the ravener venom hit her full-force. She could feel every vein in her body burn.

Isabelle quickly traced the trail of blood on Clary's neck back to the wound on her head. It was about as big as the palm of her hand, blood still dripping down Clary's neck slowly. The wound itself was covered with a green, tar-like substance that made Isabelle's eyes widen. Both siblings immediately recognized the green as ravener saliva. Isabelle made quick movements to grab her stele. "Alec, call Jace. We are going to need to give her a blood transfusion. Quick."

Alec didn't hesitate for a second to grab his phone and dial the number he was expected to, watching how Isabelle activated the iratze on the other side of Clary's neck with her stele as he waited. The wound itself closed up quickly and left no trace of existence behind, but the healing rune did little to ease Clary's sudden flashes of pain. Isabelle had already picked Clary up from the ground when Jace answered the call, the three of them already moving toward their home.

"Alec, it's _one in the morning_. Why the sudden call? Where even are you?"

"Clary's been attacked. A ravener stabbed her. We need blood. Lot's of it."

"Got it."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> brought to you by sugar, caffeine and very small amounts of sleep!

"Any improvements?"

Clary could hear a sigh, Alec's familiar tone sleepily mumbling a few words that she couldn't really understand.

"It's been two days. This is taking too long." Jace's voice barely ever betrayed his nervousness, and this time it was well hidden, too. The thing that betrayed him was the furious tapping of what Clary assumed was his stele against his hand or arm. It was a familiar sound, and Clary would willingly bet all her money on it.

"Ravnr venm 's rough stuff. Takes while to recovr."

Jace snorted at Alec's broken sentences and mumbled words. "You should sleep, dummy. I'll take watch."

Clary wanted to open her eyes or to move her hands or to make a noise, but at this point there wasn't a muscle in her body that she could get to move. All she could hear were the soft sounds of a somewhat prolonged kiss before her friends spoke again.

"G'night, love you."

"Love you too."

Clary was aware of how her consciousness slipped away from her and how the blackness from her closed eyelids altered into a dark blue, her now opened eyes spotting a fiery bright light explode in the darkness through the strands of her hair. A peaceful silence lingered in the air, any trace of Jace or Alec long gone. The light looked like it was far away, but it was bright enough to allow Clary to see more of her surroundings. While her hair blocked most of her view with the way it floated around her head, she could see a figure right next to her. Clary tried stretching her fingers, brushing them against what felt like human skin. The position that the person next to her was in prevented her from identifying who it was with certainty, even with no hair to block her view, but she did vaguely recognize the necklace that floated close by. She just didn't know from where.

The pain welling up in her chest then quickly reminded her that she needed air, her mind suddenly in a state of panic. When she tried to breathe she could feel her airways block up, lungs desperately trying to cough up the liquid that she had inhaled and creating bubbles from her nose and mouth. Her arms and legs made panicked motions, pushing and kicking down on the water that surrounded her, Clary's body wildly attempting to get itself back to the surface. Clary watched how the light came closer the more she moved but at a certain point her movements became slower, and slower until she couldn't move any longer. The light above her disappeared slowly, the darkness that had already surrounded her growing closer and closer until it had almost consumed her completely, when suddenly her vision was filled with a blinding light.

Clary kept her eyes open, ignoring the tears that were forming in her eyes as she was too scared that the darkness would return if she closed them. Her breathing was quick and harsh, as if she had actually almost drowned, and her hands were holding onto her bedsheets tightly. It took a few moments for her eyes to get used to the sudden flood of light, but when they did the dark blue had gone and been replaced with pastel greens and purples. Clary sat up, feeling her muscles ache slightly and trying to slow her breathing. She welcomed the sight of her room - the sight of all her drawings and pictures on the walls and the sight of Isabelle having fallen asleep in one of the beanbags on the floor. It felt safe. Comforting. She half expected to see at least Jace somewhere too, as she had just heard him and Alec talk, but the blond was nowhere in sight. What was in her sight, however, was the coat rack from the hallway downstairs standing next to her bed, a nearly empty blood bag dangling off it and a tube connecting it to her arm.

"Good morning, sunshine."

Clary looked away from the improvised medical equipment and stared at her doorway, watching Jace and Luke enter her room. Clary absentmindedly noted the cup of coffee that Jace was carrying, which wasn't an unusual sight at all. He ran on caffeine more than he ran on sleep.

Luke sat down next to her, on the edge of Clary's bed, putting a hand on her forehead and then on the side of her neck, presumably to check her temperature, before he put it his hand his lap. "How long have you been up for?"

"I just woke up," Clary answered, the first few words lost in her croaky voice. She tried coughing to get rid of it, but found her throat incredibly dry and her attempts useless. "I don't remember losing consciousness. How long was I out for? Two days, right?"

"This is day four, actually," Jace spoke up, offering her his coffee. She gratefully accepted his cup, sipping the hot liquid carefully. Thankfully they liked their coffee the same way - black with an amount of sugar that would make the tooth fairy faint. Truthfully though, she would probably drink anything at this moment. "What makes you think two?"

"I heard you and Alec talking, and you mentioned it had been two days."

Jace hummed thoughtfully, sitting down on the bed with his back against the footboard, his hands now entertaining themselves with his stele. His fingers twisted it around in all kinds of directions, almost expertly. Clary remembered how often he had dropped it when they were younger and she still believed it was merely a pen.

"How are you doing with the pain?" Luke questioned.

Clary took a swig of the coffee before she replied. While coffee wasn't the best liquid to do away with the thirst, it was so much better than nothing. "Muscle pains, that's all. Like I had a really intense workout, but the blood really helped."

"You wouldn't be here if it didn't," Jace mused, eyes focused on his moving fingers.

"Thanks, sunshine," Clary joked, watching a smile appear on Jace's face. "Where did you get A positive Nephilim blood anyway?"

"O positive Nephilim blood, actually," Jace corrected her, pointing his stele at her. He then proceeded to shrug. "And I may owe the vampires my life, no biggie."

"Wow. First you voluntarily give me your coffee and now I hear about this? What happened to you?"

"Thanks, Fray. You literally just woke up, feel free to safe your strength for something other than your sarcasm."

"Personally, I think it's the angel blood that's finally coming through to his personality," Luke said, directing the words at Clary more than anyone else, who couldn't keep back a smile.

"Seriously? Two against one? Now that's just unfair," Jace tried to add a hurt tone to his voice, but the grin on his face betrayed him. He then proceeded to nod towards the sleeping Lightwood. "Do you think we should wake her up? That position can't be comfortable."

"Izzy will sleep through the apocalypse," Luke said, standing up from his position on the bed. "Good luck waking her up. I have to run, they expect me to be at the office. Can I leave you alone with Jace?"

"Really nice of you, Garroway," the blond complained.

Clary just grinned. "I can handle him."

Luke smiled and kissed her on the top of her head. "I'm glad you're okay."

Clary watched him leave the room as she emptied the cup of coffee and put it on her bedside table, and it wasn't until then that she noticed it was Alec's cup. Specifically the one that Isabelle got him a few years back. It was a white one with 'Fabulously Gay' spelled across it in the colors of the rainbow. It had mainly been a joke, one that she didn't make until Alec felt comfortable with himself and his sexuality, and learned to joke about it himself, too. "Why are you drinking coffee out of Alec's mug?" Clary questioned, looking at Jace with playful disapproval.

"He was being an asshole last night." Clary raised an eyebrow, prompting for Jace to continue his explanation. "His feet were cold as ice and he kept touching my legs with them."

"And that's why you're using his mug?"

"His _favorite_ mug," Jace corrected her, causing Clary to roll her eyes. "But in all seriousness, how are you holding up? And yes I know -" he spoke quickly when she opened her mouth to speak. "Just muscle aches, but that's not what I meant. You looked shaken when we walked into the room."

"Really, Jace, it's nothing," Clary answered. "It was just a nightmare, nothing to worry about."

Jace squinted his blue eyes at her, pursing his lips thoughtfully. He had always been one of the few people in Clary's life that could tell whether she was lying or not, along with Simon and Isabelle. Apparently she would end up biting the inside of her lip after a lie had been told, a very subtle movement that only the three of them ever noticed. Alec and Luke had attempted to try and see it multiple times but always failed, and not even Clary's mother could find a hint to it. That while Clary lied to her mother many times again about not having stolen another cookie from the jar when she was younger ( _especially_ Robert Lightwood's peanut butter cookies).

Eventually, Jace sighed, a small smile forming on his lips. "Clary Fray, what did you do to piss off the angels?"

"Couldn't tell you if I wanted to. Why? Are you planning something?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. All I know right now is that you need some more rest, so I'll leave you alone for now." Jace stood up, putting his stele in the back pocket of his jeans. "Anything I can get you, before I go?"

"Sketchbook?"

Jace picked up the one that lay on her desk, knowing to ignore the dozens of other ones that had been placed on a shelf a few centimeters higher up, as they had been filled till the very last page. He handed it to Clary - along with her mechanical pencil - before he picked up Isabelle and lay her down on her own bed in the same room, covering her with a blanket before he left.

Clary looked at the sleeping figure for a little while, wondering how Isabelle could sleep through literally anything. It easily explained why everyone had taken shifts to watch over Clary, because if she would be screaming her lungs out in pain, Isabelle wouldn't hear it. It was truly a miracle on its own, though it did make sharing a room easier, as there wasn't constant worry about waking the other person up.

Clary leafed through her sketchbook to find an empty page, coming across sketches of birds, forests, architecture and people before she finally found one, absentmindedly noting that she needed to buy a new one soon.

She put the point of her pencil down and started creating lines, drawing with no particular image in mind, with the sketchbook in her lap. The activity had always been soothing to her and she had used it as a coping method for many things throughout the entirety of her life. It didn't matter whether they were proper sketches or simplistic doodles that she made while listening in class. If she was able to draw, she would feel better a lot quicker.

Clary very easily lost track of time whenever she drew and the same thing happened now. Hours passed, and when she put the pencil down again, she frowned at the page in confusion, finally looking at the total image. She had drawn a sideway view of a woman - someone she had never seen before in her life. The woman's hair was fancily styled and reminded Clary of a hairstyle someone would wear to prom, but her clothing reminded her more of exercise. She had also drawn a ring in the bottom right corner - it looked like a shadowhunter family ring. Where the Lightwoods had one with the L, the Waylands with the W and the Fairchilds with the F, this one showed a distinct O.

Clary's mindless drawing had often times resulted in crazy things - like reverse mermaids or cats with table legs for paws - but they had always been made up from things she had seen before. And she could almost say, with complete certainty, that this woman was someone she'd never seen before.

She looked up from the drawing when she heard something shuffle on the other side of the room, and found a slightly disoriented Isabelle sitting up in her bed, staring at the beanbag she had been sitting on with confusion. She rubbed a hand in her eyes and blinked a couple of times before she noticed Clary. Isabelle grew the biggest smile on her face as she made her way over to her friend, pushing Clary backwards onto the bed with the hug that she enveloped her in.

For a while no words were spoken, Clary pulling Isabelle as close as she could until the later whispered something. "You're okay. By the Angels, you're okay."

"Thanks to you," Clary whispered back.

They stayed in that position for a little while longer until Isabelle rolled over, now laying at Clary's side. She spotted the sketchbook still in Clary's lap and curiously peeked at the drawing. "Unbelievable!" Isabelle gasped, resting her head on the redhead's shoulder and examining the drawing as she held it. "You picked up a pencil before as much as telling me that you're awake."

"Well," Clary sighed, resting her head on top of Isabelle's. "Stop pricking your finger on a spindle every night and you might be easier to wake up."

"Is this you calling me a sleeping beauty?"

"Currently you are an awakened beauty."

"Very true. Speaking of beauty, who's the lady?" Isabelle gestured towards the drawing.

"I honestly don't know. I have never seen her before."

Isabelle hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe you've seen her walk around but don't remember."

"Honestly, if she had her hair like that, I would have admired her and never forgotten."

"True." Isabelle was going to say something else after a short pause, but was interrupted by a loud grumbling noise that came from Clary's stomach, effectively making both girls laugh. Isabelle sat up straight, grabbing Clary's hands and gently pulling her with her as she got off of the bed. "Come on, it's time for the most elaborate lunch of your life."

Isabelle wasn't joking when she called it as such. What could have been a simple trip to the Italian restaurant down the block, ended up being a trip to the bookstore to pick up Alec from his work (and Clary getting distracted by the art supply section they had), followed by a four hour long seating at a bakery in the town center. While Jace, Alec and Isabelle couldn't really look at food anymore without getting nauseous, Clary still found herself somewhat hungry, which ended in a trip to the pizzaria a few blocks away from the bakery. The afternoon was filled with easy conversation about what Clary had missed in the past few days. As it turned out she had missed an amazing meal that Isabelle had cooked (but there were left-overs in the fridge) and Jace had somehow beaten Alec in an archery contest (Alec complained Jace was distracting him in various ways, and Jace didn't even attempt to deny this). Clary felt warm and happy at the sight of Jace's grin and Alec's smile, she felt safe listening to Isabelle's laugh, but eventually the afternoon came to an end and they returned home, stomachs full and conversation still flowing. Isabelle had her arm linked with Clary's and Jace and Alec walked shoulder to shoulder, walking down the sidewalk as the streetlights jumped on. None of them had actually realized they had had lunch long enough for the sky to turn dark, but there hadn't been a worry on their mind since Clary had woken up, and there was nothing to worry about until they were home and any trace of happiness feel from their faces.

Every coat that was supposed to hang on the wall was thrown across the hallway, every picture smashed to the ground. Books were on the floor across the entire house, forks and knives were stuck in the kitchen wall and everything was a mess. The distinct smell of death lingered in the air and traces of a dark green substance could be found on the floor. Jace and Alec immediately dashed upstairs, two steps at a time, while Clary picked up her phone as it started to ring, not bothering to check the caller ID.

"Clary - Clary where are you? Where are the others?" Luke.

"We're all together - we just got home from lunch but the house -"

"Get out of there now."

Clary opened her mouth to reply, eyes confusedly darting around the room, when the sound of breaking glass sounded from upstairs.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has come to my attention that today is Alec Lightwood appreciation day. Which is bad timing for this chapter....  
> I also probably didn't mention this before, but updates will happen every Monday! (Unless something important comes in between). 
> 
> Also, a warning for horror-esque undertones!

It took a few moments for Alec to register what had happened to their house, hazel eyes darting across the mess on the floor and the seemingly moving Ravener saliva. Only a second after he realized what was going on, Alec pushed past Jace and hurried up the stairs, vaguely noticing how the blond followed closely behind. Alec continued to move toward the bedroom that he shared with Jace, eyes moving across the hallway as to inspect it. A similar thing had happened here - blankets, pillows, clothing and all kinds of personal stuff had been thrown into the hallway. Several doors had been left wide open while others were partially closed. The sigh made Alec wonder what had happened. It looked like someone was searching for something, aggressively and hurriedly. A desperate search for something unknown to him. The smell of death that lingered in the air easily gave away that it was a demon, and the strength of it told that it was still nearby.

Alec moved into the bedroom carefully, making sure there were no demons inside before moving to the wardrobe in front of him. He reached up and blindly searched the top of it for the two seraph blades that they held there, his eyes focused on Jace, who was still in the hallway. He watched how the blond peeked through the small opening that gave him a view into the bedroom of Isabelle and Clary, hand pressed flat against the door and opening it as slowly as he could. Alec felt relief wash over him when he closed his fingers around the handles of their blades, not wanting Jace to walk into a demon without his weapon - which he would if he continued searching for it like that.

He walked out of their room and whistled softly, throwing one of the blades at Jace, who successfully caught it. Their weapons lit up simultaneously, Jace now pushing the door open with a bit more force and creating an opening for Alec to slip through, while he followed closely behind. The only abnormality in the room that they noticed, however, was the mess on the floor and the broken window.

"Where is this asshole," Jace cursed under his breath.

The distinct and loud noise of shattering glass sounded from down the hallway, making the both of them turn around. Alec held his arm in front of Jace almost instinctively as he started to move, preventing the younger one from walking out in front of him. Jace's sigh was short and somewhat annoyed, something that Alec decided to ignore when he made his way to the source of the noise, seraph blade out in front of him. Moving closer and closer, he started to hear low growls coming from behind the mostly closed bathroom door. He stopped moving when he was a few meters away from the door, the low growls suddenly replaced with a roar so loud that Alec could feel it in his bones.

Alec didn't know what had then suddenly caused him to lay on the ground, a heavy weight on top of his body. He couldn't recall what had happened after the demon roared. All he knew was that his head hurt, and that something was running down the side of his face. He could hear someone shout his name as he tried to push the heavy weight off of him, a sudden flash of red hair jumping into his view to help him do so. Clary helped him sit up straight and kept a hand pressed to his back, the thumb of her other hand gently brushing over Alec's eyebrow and making him wince in return.

Alec's eyes landed on the demon that had now entered the hallway, seeing how the bathroom door was now missing from the door frame. The demon was big and looked like it had been dug up from a grave. Its eyes seemed to pop out of the skull because the muscles and the skin had sunken into its eye sockets. Skin on its neck had gone missing and showed seemingly dried up muscles and the entirety of its body had a gray tone.

A Forsaken.

Alec watched how Jace took a swing at it with his seraph blade, and how the Forsaken stopped the blade with the palm of its hand, fingers closing around it an obviously attempting to crush the weapon. It just made the creature scream, pulling it out of Jace's grip harshly and throwing it against the wall before it hurled at the blond. Alec wanted to stand up to help, having already grabbed his own seraph blade that lay to the side of him, but he felt Clary push him back down, her hands gripping onto his shoulders tightly before she stood up herself. He watched how Isabelle's whip curled itself around the Forsaken's neck, preventing it from even as much as touching Jace as she held it back with all her strength. The runes that were coded onto the silver that the whip was made of burned at its flesh. This combined with the lack of air that it received because of it made it even angrier, causing it to pull at the whip harshly and knocking Isabelle onto the ground. At this point Alec decided to stand up, against Clary's wishes, and walked closer, ignoring the headache and the nausea as he pushed his blade through the Forsaken's chest at the same time as Clary pushed hers through its back. They both turned the weapon to the side with all their strength before pulling it out again. The growls disappeared along with the roars as they watched the demon fall to the ground.

It was at this point that Alec noticed his dizziness and had to lean against a wall as not to fall over, instantly prompting the worry of the other three. He pulled away from Jace's hand as the blond's fingers brushed against the injury on his head, the stinging feeling far from pleasant. " _Please_ , stop touching my eyebrow."

"Well, _excuse_ me for being worried about you after you get a door kicked at you," Jace replied sarcastically, fishing his stele out of his back pocket and lifting up Alec's shirt, finding his iratze on his left side and activating it.

"Is that what happened?" Alec questioned, feeling how the headache and the dizziness disappeared, allowing him to stand without needing the wall to lean against.

"Yes, Alec," Jace officially sounded worried. "You were standing in front of the bathroom door, the Forsaken let out this bone shaking battle cry and kicked the door out in the opposite direction it normally opens in. It hit you straight in the head. I think you may have a concussion."

"I'm fine. The healing rune will do its job."

"Just make sure to tell us when it doesn't," Isabelle said as Clary returned Jace's seraph blade to him.

"You okay, too?" Alec asked, watching how his sister twisted her right wrist in various directions.

"The healing rune will do its job."

Alec rolled his eyes at her and for a moment they said nothing, the silence that surrounded them interrupted only by a quick tapping sound. The four of them looked around, Alec's semi-relaxed muscles tensing up again. His eyes darted up, scanning the ceiling until his vision landed on a spider-like demon hanging upside down. He could feel his skin crawl. "Above us."

As if on queue, the demon crawled closer to them at a high speed, eventually jumping off of the ceiling and launching itself at them. Isabelle hit it with her whip harshly before it could touch them, disintegrating the demon before it could even touch the ground. And then the tapping sound came from elsewhere.

"Luke told us to get out of here," Clary spoke in a flustered tone, as if she had only just remembered. "There's more going on than just the Forsaken."

"We can handle a few demons," Jace answered.

"We don't know if they're _just a few_ , Jace."

"Clary is right, let's quickly grab our weapons and then leave," Alec declared.

The four of them moved quickly and not without complaints, unsure where the tapping noise came from as it seemed to sound through the entire house. While there was no other weapon for Jace to grab, both Isabelle and Clary returned with their own seraph blades while Alec had grabbed his bow and quiver. They all kept their weapons ready as they started to move down the stairs, Alec in front with his bow drawn. They were almost down the stairs when Alec's reflexes picked up on some movement and he released his arrow, shooting it through the door frame to the living room, a high screeching sound confirming the death of the demon.

They moved out of the front door, walking down the sidewalk quickly and making sure to stay away from the street lanterns, staying in the shadows as to lower the chance of being seen.

"Where are we going?" Isabelle questioned.

"To get some Chinese food," Clary said.

No questions followed up on that. It was another one of the codes they used within their little group, similar to the ear pinching. It simply meant that they were going to the Chinese restaurant on the pier. More commonly known among the supernatural as the werewolf base. With Luke being the Alpha, and being very much like a father-figure to all of them, they were on friendly terms with the pack, occasionally even getting free dinner.

The four of them turned around the corner and into an alleyway. While it may not have been the safest choice, their ultimate goal was to stay out of the light and an alleyway was a perfect option, their Nyx runes taking care of them not being able to see in the dark. Aside from that, it was a shortcut to where they needed to go.

Alec held out his left arm when he noticed a shadow move against the walls, stopping Isabelle from moving any further and with that stopping Clary and Jace. The three of them caught on to his suspicions immediately as the shadow seemed to move around more and more, prompting the shadowhunters to get their weapons ready to strike.

"What's with all these demons chasing us?" Jace whispered. "It's not a coincidence that we get attacked by a Forsaken, raveners and now... _this_ all in the same day."

That was not a question that any of them could answer. The only reason that Alec could think of was because they were shadowhunters, and they had lowered in numbers immensely since the Idris Massacre roughly 20 years ago. This made the shadowhunters a very attractive hunt for demons, especially after the Clave ceased to exist and there were no institutes left to train and teach them. Seeing a group of shadowhunters had become a rarity, and while more dangerous, demons adored going after those. Alec remembered how his mother always said that being in groups meant both safety and a death sentence, but that being in a group was always the favorable choice. It was better to have a group fight a bunch of demons more frequently, than to fight a group on your own. At least there would be someone to have your back when you needed it. This had been her way of telling their group to never leave anybody behind, and to always stick together.

But this? This wasn't normal. Not even for a group of shadowhunters.

The shadow seemed to surround them, moving too quickly for them to get a good look at it, let alone to get a hit on it. When it did finally stop moving, however, nobody was entirely sure what to do. While Alec's bow was drawn, he could not let go of the arrow, because in front of him stood Isabelle, held still by her neck. Held by a demon that he hadn't seen before.

It looked oddly human, but it's fingernails were pointy and looked sharp, digging into Isabelle's skin and drawing small bits of blood. The demon was smiling, wide, showing off teeth that were as thin, as long and as pointy as toothpicks but its dark eyes seemed to lack any emotion. Alec could feel his skin crawl as he looked at it, and the demon stared at him, head tilting sideways slowly, smile growing impossibly wider. He didn't dare to move, afraid of what would happen to his sister, and Jace and Clary didn't move a muscle either.

The demon opened its mouth, and the sound that came out of it was the tapping noise that they had heard in the house.

It looked like it was about to bite Isabelle in the neck, and Alec pointed his arrow at the demons head, jaw clenched together tightly, but he was not the one to shoot the arrow that put the demon down - he didn't shoot at all. Yet they watched the demon let go of Isabelle's neck and drop to the ground. Alec hugged his sister close when she stumbled back to them, and he watched how the demon melted, the arrow with blue fletching soon lying in a puddle of seemingly tar.

Alec looked up, and in front of him was a blonde young woman, bow in hand and walking closer. She had shot the demon from behind, and before she payed attention to them she picked up her arrow, pulling a disgusted face at the substance that covered it. She then focused her eyes on them. "You okay?"

"We're okay," Clary whispered. "Thank- Thank you for doing... that..." Clary hesitated, as she didn't know the woman's name, and the blonde gave a half smile in return.

"Lydia Branwell."


	4. Author's Note

Hello!

Okay, so I feel terrible having to post this, but there are some things I thought you should know because they are about this specific story!

First of all, it won't be cancelled. The story will continue where it left off. The thing is that I'm just having a major writer's block for the next chapter so getting it done is taking a lot longer than I had expected!

Aside from that, I feel like updating once a week is too much for me to do, especially because I still go to school.

So:

The story will be continued. I'm really trying to get the next chapter up on **Monday 23rd of May**. From that point on, a new update will be every 10 days. It won't be on a fixed day, and it's just a few days longer than a week which will give me more time to write and edit!

Because it's not on a fixed day anymore, I'll just put the planned date for the next chapter at the end of the current one.

I'm truly sorry that this isn't a new chapter, but it should be back and going on the above date! Enjoy your day, and see you soon!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you to my very own parabatai for helping me out with this one <3

"Well then, thank you, Lydia. My name is -"

Clary stopped talking the moment that Lydia raised her hand. Clary looked confused, but didn't speak another word as she watched how Lydia shook the demon's remains off her arrow before she put it in the quiver on her back. Alec looked down at his sister, rubbing her arms reassuringly before he let go of her a little more, but still with an arm around her shoulders to keep her close. Lydia then looked back at them, that half-smile gone without a trace and in the place of it was nothing but neutrality. "There is no need for introductions. I am not interested in knowing who you are - I did not come here to make _friends_. I came her because she -" Lydia waved a hand towards Isabelle, "- almost became a liquid late-night snack for that dhampyre."

The tone that Lydia spoke in was both bold and unwelcoming, and Alec could see Clary's expression change. She had never liked it when people spoke to her in that kind of tone - it annoyed her greatly and it was visible all over her face. "I'm glad you could at the very least muster the care to not let somebody die."

"I am not heartless," Lydia snapped. She almost looked offended.

Alec saw something move in the corner of his eye, subconsciously pulling Isabelle closer to him as he looked towards it. There was nothing on the walls, and there was nothing in the dark, but Isabelle was looking at him with a frown, as if she had seen it too.

"Wait, wait, wait," Jace interrupted, holding a hand out in front of him as if to stop everyone from talking. "What the _hell_ is a _dhampyre_?"

"A human and vampire hybrid," Clary explained, receiving a surprised look from Jace. "Don't you remember the visual novel Simon and I were planning? The tower of mythological books in the corner of our rooms?"

The short silence that fell within the group was long enough for them to be alerted by the quick tapping noise that started to surround them, seemingly coming from the darkness on the walls. They seemed to have momentarily forgotten that they were running from something, but were even quicker to be reminded by the demon that jumped at them out of nothing, though it was quickly pierced by Jace's seraph blade. Alec pushed Isabelle and Clary out in front of him. "We need to leave. Go."

Jace followed closely behind the girls as Alec tried to move Lydia with them as well, but she didn't move a foot. "Why would I go with you?"

Alec rolled his eyes before he looked straight into hers. "These demons have caught onto your scent and you killed one of their friends. There is no doubt that they will run after you too and I'll be _damned_ if I let anyone die tonight."

"I can take care of myself."

"I have no doubt that you can, but there is no telling how many are going to come around the corner, and there isn't a living shadowhunter that has handled twenty demons at once. So _move_."

Lydia squinted her gray eyes at him before she let out a sigh and moved into the direction that the others had gone. Clary had taken the spot in front, her seraph blade drawn and hand gripping the handle tightly. Alec stayed in the back, as that was where the threat seemed to come from, and made sure to have his bow drawn again. The demons, however, didn't seem to be particularly picky about where they were coming from, and the group had to change direction several times to avoid the bigger groups. Yet they could turn however often they wanted; there were always demons on their heels. They managed to hit and run whenever they really needed to, Clary or Jace staying behind just a second to take care of a demon that stood in their immediate way. Alec always stayed behind, making sure the others were in front of or next to him at all times.

At a given point, it were Isabelle and Lydia that were in front, the others lagging behind to take care of some of the other demons. Isabelle was a few steps ahead of Lydia (she wasn't certain how she did it in those heels), and the gap between them was big enough for a demon to jump out in front of Lydia. It looked humanoid, but there wasn't much time to think about the type of demon because Lydia had to take steps back to get an arrow out of her quiver and shoot it, but the demon followed. It took steps forward as she took ones backward until something silver wrapped itself around its neck, allowing Lydia to create distance and shoot an arrow. Once the demon had turned to ash, it was Isabelle in front of her, a whip in her hand.

There was only a second for them to look at each other when the other had caught up and they were running again. Clary very quickly navigated them towards the pier and soon enough they found themselves in familiar surroundings, wolves jumping from behind boxes that were stored on the pier itself and taking care of the few demons that dared to follow, allowing the group of shadowhunters safe passage inside.

The little doorbell rang above their heads as they opened the door to the Jade Wolf restaurant. Alec closed the door behind him and finally dared to relax his muscles, the quiet chatter and soft music making him feel safer instantly. Demons tended to stay away from werewolves, so at this point it was the safest that they could be.

"A werewolf base. Really?" Lydia spoke up, her mouth snapping shut as yellow eyes looked at her from all around the room.

"Better not offend them," Jace answered. "They bite."

"Are you okay?"

Everyone looked up at the question that seemed to be directed at them, and they watched how Luke walked towards them hastily. Worry was written all over his face; his eyes darting between the blood still drying on the left side of Alec's face, the shaken-up Isabelle that was holding onto Clary's hand tightly and the unfamiliar face that was Lydia.

"We're okay, Luke," Clary assured him, out of breath. "You just called - a little bit too late. Jace and Alec had already gone upstairs - the Forsaken - we - but there were more and we ran but we ran into a dhampyre -and Isabelle - Iz almost got attacked by it but Lydia - I... What's going on? How did you know there was danger at home? How did you know when to call?"

Luke let out a sigh, ushering them all further into the restaurant. "Sit down, I'll be there in a second and I'll explain what's happening."

Alec watched him walk towards the bar on the other side of the room, starting conversation with the woman that stood behind it. They all moved towards an empty table, Lydia quietly following along. Alec noticed that she really didn't want to be there - the message was radiating from her expression, but she didn't argue anymore.

Jace and Alec each grabbed an extra chair from another empty table, leaving an empty chair especially for Luke. When they sat down, Alec felt how Jace gently grabbed his hand on top of the table, lazily intertwining their fingers before he squeezed tightly. It was something that Jace had made a habit of his - to grab Alec's hand after a mission or something alike, as if to tell him " _Good job_ " and " _I'm glad you're okay_ ". Alec never minded, and always made sure to hold on a bit tighter, too. Alec knew that the both of them were more affectionate than they'd ever dare to admit out loud, but they never really had to because people could usually see it. Lydia saw it too, her eyes temporarily focused on their hands, and Alec could have sworn he saw her smile slightly.

Roughly a minute later, Luke joined them at the table, his hands folded in front of him. He couldn't speak a word before Clary spoke up. "How did you know the house was dangerous?"

"I have some of the pack scout the house occasionally," Luke explained, looking at each of them carefully. "Just in case something like this happens. They reported Forsaken and Raveners inside and I immediately called you. They must not have seen you enter and they came back here immediately after the call, so they wouldn't have know you had gotten attacked. You didn't try to fight them, did you?" The only answer he got was silence, and Luke's eyes grew a little bit wider. "Guys when I -"

"We didn't have much choice," Jace interrupted, tone bitter. "Alec and I - we went upstairs when we saw the mess the house was in to get our weapons but we heard something break and there was a Forsaken in the bathroom."

"You should have walked away."

"Yeah, sure, because the door that Alec got thrown _in his face_ and the Forsaken jumping at us made that _so_ easy." The sarcasm was dripping from his voice.

" _Jace_ ," Isabelle hissed. "This is not Luke's fault."

Jace took a deep breath, and Alec could feel the hand around his tighten even more. "I know... I just... First Clary gets stabbed by a Ravener, _almost dies_ , then she's finally awake, we go out and come back to find a Forsaken waiting for us at home - because _that's_ _normal_ \- and then there are more Raveners. We run from them, then a hampyre or whatever gets a hold of Izzy, almost tears her throat out and it would have if it wasn't for Lydia here because we couldn't get a shot on it and then we need to run _again_ because we can hear more of them coming. I'm really starting to suspect they are after us but _why_?"

The six of them watched how the lady from behind the bar put down a cup of steaming water in front of each of them, followed by a box of differently flavored teas and a wet towel for Alec to wipe the blood off his face. He gladly accepted this, and started cleaning the left side of his face as Luke continued. "My personal suspicions are that the Circle has found you."

Those words gained everyone's undivided attention.

"The Circle?" Alec questioned, putting the towel down on the table. "You mean the same people that caused the Idris Massacre?"

"Idris Massacre?" Lydia asked. Her eyes had widened a little and Alec could have sworn she had gone a few shades lighter, but her expression remained mostly neutral.

"It's what we call the mass murder of shadowhunters in Idris about 20 years ago," Luke explained. "Do you know the story?"

"I do," Lydia's eyes dropped down and were now focused on her cup of steaming water.

"But why would the Circle be after us?" Clary asked.

"You are the offspring of members of the inner circle - the fuel that has started and kept this operation going for a long time. The betrayal that your parents committed hit the Circle hard and they were never forgiven - they died because of it - but the Circle never knew about you. They always believed you had died with them in the fire."

"How do you know?" Isabelle asked.

"Because they never continued searching, and I think this is where the search starts again - because they know you're alive. You are the children of the people that committed terrible betrayal and tried to stop what they once stood for. The Circle has every reason to believe that you would follow in their footsteps, and they want to make sure that you won't be a problem."

"This isn't very reassuring..." Clary muttered, leaning back in her chair. "What now? They found our home. No going back there. Demons are _actively trying_ to kill us."

"The institute." Five pairs of eyes focused themselves on Lydia. Everyone could see how her face had softened immensely compared to a few minutes ago. She avoided any eye contact as she spoke, and Alec could see she was thinking as she did. She seemed to be fighting herself - eyes darting around, head shaking softly, eyes closing. "The New York Institute. It's where I live. It's one of the few that wasn't destroyed badly enough to make it unlivable. It's still glamored and I have a warlock friend who put up some protections - no surprise attacks, nothing without angel blood will get past."

"Why are you suddenly being so nice?" Clary questioned, suspicion clear in her voice.

"Let's just say that I know what it's like to run from something like that. And it's not like I _want_ you to die."

The New York institute could have been home to Alec, Jace, Isabelle and Clary. It was where their parents trained, and Maryse and Robert Lightwood were once the leaders. The four of them had heard many stories about it. The Lightwoods were proud owners even after they joined the Circle, but had to step away from this position because of their betrayal, because at that point their children were the priority. If Maryse and Robert wouldn't have left when they did, their bodies would have likely been among all the dead ones, along with a two-year-old Alec and a barely one-year-old Isabelle. Because as the Circle grew, it started to attack institutes. Many of them always were on the side of the Clave, and they were the biggest enemy. The most effective way to reach the Clave, was to eliminate the protective circle around it. And those were the institutes.

Robert and Maryse took pride in the time where they lead the institute, and showed pictures of it to their children, and from the outside, Alec couldn't tell the difference. It looked exactly like it had in the pictures his parents had shown them. He was now standing in front of his parents' past, and he wasn't sure whether he should be excited or scared of what he could find.

"Why did you pick the institute to live in?" Isabelle questioned as they continued to walk closer to the building.

"I was hoping it would hold some history, but there's a lot of closed up spaces. My stele doesn't work on the runes protecting it. It's also close to the vampires, and who could possibly have more history stored than them?"

"I feel like I'm being gossiped about."

Everyone turned themselves to the source of the voice. Two vampires had decided to make an appearance. One of them was grinning widely, arms folded across a fancy looking suit, and the other - the other made Alec's heart stop.

"Simon?"


End file.
